An ongoing goal of automotive designers has been to optimize the assembly process by simplifying the same at the vehicle assembly plants. A trend has been to coordinate the manufacture of various subassemblies through one supervisory supplier.
With respect to steering column assemblies, known assembly processes bring in various components of the steering column for integration into a finished steering column at the vehicle assembly plant. This typically involves a relatively greater number of manufacturing steps that include electronically connecting each steering column component to the vehicle electronic circuitry. Accordingly, each component must be individually connected to the steering column or to various jacks below the dashboard, for example.
With regard to the mechanical connection of the steering column to the vehicle steering mechanism, the steering column must typically be connected to the vehicle steering mechanism in relatively complicated and time consuming steps. Simplification of the assembly of the steering column to reduce the time and complexity of connection to the vehicle at the vehicle assembly plant would therefore be an improvement in the art.